Thanks to grants from the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, Smithfield American Legion Post 132, and the National Shooting Sports Federation, student cadets of the Navy Junior Reserver Officer Training Corps will enjoy a 1,200 square foot, six lane indoor shooting range on the campus of Smithfield-Selma High School. The cadets will train using Daisy pump air rifles, the model of which was not specified. The shooting supplies were donated by Bass Pro Shops of Cary, NC.

The range itself is located in a renovated greenhouse on campus. The structure had fallen into disrepair before the cadets decided to re-purpose it, doing much of the work themselves.

JROTC Commander David Wegman stated firmly that firearms safety would be the first and most important consideration in the new program.

“There’s a marksmanship safety test they have to take, and they have to get a 100 on it. In addition to that, they have to sign a safety pledge, get permission from home and then finally demonstrate on the range that they know how to handle one of these air rifles safely.”

In addition, Commander Wegman notes that safety procedures are in place to ensure that the air guns are well maintained and that access to them is heavily restricted:

“The procedures that we have in place ensure that we do the same thing, the same way, every single time.”